


Angraboda & the Children of Loki

by geekinlikeaboss



Series: Retellings [2]
Category: Frostiron - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Tony Stark - Fandom, freeform - Fandom, movies - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mythology - Freeform, retellings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:56:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekinlikeaboss/pseuds/geekinlikeaboss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My retelling of the old myths continues as Tony asks Loki about another of his old stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angraboda & the Children of Loki

“You didn’t?” he shouted at the smug god across from him.

“She called Thor an arrogant, oafish, preening man child.” Loki defended as he took another sip. “Sif was right of course. But nobody gets to call him that save for me.”

“Sibling privilege?”

“Exactly.” Loki pointed to Ton and gave him a sly grin. “He had been flirting with Sif for months. And she finally said she would consent to a dance with him at the Harvest fete, _if_ he could best her in the sparring ring.” Loki gestured grandly. “So they sparred, and she beat him terribly. Tossed him in the horse trough. And when he told her she was a surly wench…”

“Geez. So Thor wasn’t always such a nice guy huh?”

“We were children. We all said stupid things. At any rate I decided to have a little revenge. I snuck into the barracks and shaved off every last one of her golden hairs. I bound it together and glues it to a leather cap. The next morning I wore it to training practice and danced around with two grapefruits down my shirt.”

That did it. Tony lost it. He started snorting as he laughed and Loki looked pleased that his tale was going over so well. “She must have been so pissed.”

“I thought she would kill me honestly! I swear when she discovered me she was like a wild bilgesnipe! Everyone was laughing, though at the jest or me trying to avoid her fists I still don’t know.” He sat back and brushed his hair away from his face. “Joke was on me though. No one took Sif seriously as a blond. But when her hair grew back, all thick and sable…”

Tony wiped the tears off his eyes. “Okay…so…no where near as illicit as the book goes.”

Loki shook his head. “Sif and I have never been paramours. She always had a heart for Thor, but she wanted to see him become more of a man before they married.”

“And now she’s lost her chance to Jane Foster.”

Loki paused, then seemed to remember something. “Oh…no no no. You misunderstand. Thor and Sif _were_ married for almost 200 years.”

“Wait…what? No seriously?”

Loki nodded. “You forget, Asgardian marriage doesn’t work the same way. Our parents needed to help bind the ties between the noble Asgardian households. Sif and Thor were childhood friends, battle bonded, and had no objections to producing children with one another. They were quite happy as I remember. But Sif wished to increase her skills by joining the Valkyries. And they will not accept a wedded woman among their elite.”

“So she divorced him.”

“Amicably. After all they had two sons, Mooi and Magni.” Loki said. “At any rate, most of my tricks in the early days were like that. Harmless, perhaps a little wicked but not truly malicious.”

“Okay…” Tony chewed his bottom lip. “What about…the one with the wedding and the goat?”

“I did **_not_** do that!” Loki insisted, face burning red.

“Hold on there. No one said you did.” Tony grinned but Loki gave him a sour grimace and crossed his arms. “Oh come on buttercup…you promised.”

“I know. I know! I promised everything.” Loki sighed and rubbed his brow. “You have to understand I was very drunk.”

Tony snickered.

“Sodding, piss pot blinding drunk.”

Tony tried to hide the laugh behind his hand, chest pumping up and down.

“Thor levels of drunk!” Loki insisted. “And the bride was such a frigid bitch! Fandral bet me I couldn’t get her to laugh.”

“Is that…you know…” he gestured to his hands. “The horns?”

Loki arched an eyebrow. “No. That is not why the horns.” He gestured to the closet where the armor was kept. “Asgardian armor is highly symbolic if you know what to look for. The coat clasp has a large serpent on it. In memory of my son Jourmungander. My shoulder guard has my son Fenrir on it, who is twins to Jourmungander. And the horns of my helmet are for my daughter, Hela. She…ah…she had difficulty in Asgard. She needed to know her father was proud of her.”

“That’s awful cute for a crazed trickster god.”

“Say what you will Anthony. I love my children.”

“Alright. Enough of the fairy tales.” Tony pointed. “I want to hear one of the big stories.”

Loki nodded. “Very well. Shall I tell you of the eventual doom of Ragnorok? Or perhaps my years spent at the Lyceum?”

“I want to know about Sigyn.”

Loki stiffened and his face fell.

“The books don’t really say much about her. Besides the fact that she’s your wife. There’s got to be more to it then that.” Tony insisted.

Loki gave a small cough. “How about…Angraboda instead? You would get to hear more about my children.” He promised enticingly.

 _Okay, obviously not ready to share that._ Tony nodded. “Okay. Alright. Angraboda then.”

Loki visually relaxed. “There used to be this…place you could get to between the realms. Sort of a city on a drifting space rock. You might compare it to the Reno here in Midgard. It was a free-port, which meant it owed allegiance to no one and maintained autonomous laws and government. _Urolighederne_ , which meant City of Troubles. Which was as good of a place to get into trouble as any, especially if you didn’t want the eyes of the All-Father watching over you.”

“Thor and I would occasionally sneak out there for a little misadventure. Just a tavern brawl, maybe a tumble with a willing lass or fellow.” He grinned licentiously at Tony. “But for the most part, just a bit of boisterous fun. Well one time the brawl got a bit out of hand and between the two of us we…may have destroyed a city block.”

“Just a few?”

“We were young. At any rate when the city guard showed up I had to remind Thor that there was a difference between knocking heads with the rabble and attacking the officials. So we let ourselves be jailed until the leader of _Urolighederne_ could see us. It was almost a week later…”

“Wait. You went missing for a week?” Tony sat forward. “And nobody noticed?”

“Thor and I went off Asgard all the time. Together, separately. Sometimes with The Warriors Three, Sometimes with Sif…” Loki shrugged. “I doubt anyone truly noticed we were missing for a while. At any rate we were eventually taken to the great hall, Angraboda’s hall.” He licked his lips. “Have you ever seen a woman so impressive, so in control, that you were willing to be owned by her?”

Tony shook his head and his eyes got wider. “Wow.”

“Half jotun, at least 5 heads taller than Thor. Handsome, strong healthy female. Her breasts, Anthony…” Loki gave him a look of sweet nostalgic memory. “Her breasts were the color of ripe peaches. Two pillows so soft and warm and inviting…” he chuckled. “But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

“No no you’re fine.” Tony argued.

Loki grinned cheerfully. “But the best part was her presence. In a city of brigands, cutthroats, and exiles, when she spoke everyone listened. When she stood no one dared breath until she finished. She was furious with us at first. Wanted to know what the sons of Asgard were doing in her city, provoking trouble. She demanded compensation for the damage done to her realm. Thor of course just had to be an ass about it. Saying that her citizens started the fight. Which was…well not entirely untrue. Thor swung the first blow but he was a tad provoked. His backtalk upset her and she back handed him across the damn room. Then her red eyes fell to me.” Loki’s eyes became distant and he was clearly reliving this just a bit. “She was amused by me at first. Didn’t see how one of Odin’s children could be so quiet and small.” He leaned back. “I looked at her and smiled in that way that seems to be charming and I said ‘Small in all ways but the one that would matter most to a woman like you.”

“I think she was stunned for a moment. But then she started laughing. She offered to discuss how I might compensate her for the damage done. Later. In her chambers. Alone.” The trickster god could have set fires with the heat coming off him. “I walked with a limp for the next week. But at the end of our congress she told me what the price of our freedom would be. And it was indeed a high prince. Angraboda wanted the apples of immortality.”

“Ahh. So this is like…two myths mixed into one.”

“Something like that yes. Midgardian folk get things muddled.” Loki reasoned. “Thor and I left the next day, him teasing me the whole way home about mating with a giantess. Honestly I think it was one of the few times he might have been a bit jealous of me. I thought myself clever. I told her I would bring her one apple, which she could then plant and grow her own tree. But here is the trick. The apples are also known as the golden apples of Idunn. Any of the Aesir can go to her and ask for an apple whenever they wish, to preserve their youth and beauty. But, only Idunn herself is actually capable of plucking them from the tree.” Loki seemed pleased with himself. “You could plant a thousand trees in every realm, but without Idunn there to harvest, the tree is little more than an extravagant arboreal decoration. So I thought nothing of it. I gave Angraboda an apple and decided to avoid _Urolighederne_ for a while.”

“Were you…just maybe a little sex addled when you came up with this scheme?” Tony couldn’t resist asking.

Loki started to deliver a scathing retort, then sighed. “She was a **very** healthy woman, Anthony. But none the less I thought that would be the end of it. However, nine months later…”

“That’s a very self-explanatory time frame.”

“Angrboda was furious with me over the apples. But now she had a trump card. By Asgardian law, any union, no matter how brief, that results in children is considered a marriage. Admittedly this was a lower marriage. But it still gave her certain rights. Such as demanding compensation for the care of the children. I had no objections to this of course. I would do my duty as any father should. But she forbid me to see them. She demanded a dowry and support first. If I wanted my children, I had to bring her Idunn. There was little I could do to argue. So I went to Idunn and told her I had seen apples even more magnificent and lovely than her own. She was always a bit obsessive about those apples. Prideful even.” Loki sounded regretful, but still seemed to be blaming her a bit. “I felt bad for her when I delivered her to Angraboda’s hall. She was a frail slip of a goddess. Never had much nerve.” Loki caught Tony’s look. “You think me cruel.” He said

“I think you’re an asshole.” Tony admitted freely.

“To be fare Anthony, she had my children. I had to do something. I had an obligation…to her and to them. And she refused any other attempts at being pacified. She threatened to abandon my children to the wastes.” He sat forward. “When we traded, I thought she was playing a callous joke on me. She handed me two wrapped creatures, a black wolf pup and a serpent nearly as big as I was. I was about to threaten her when…when the wolf pup began shape shift. In a few moments I was holding a snake and a child who looked as I had when a babe.”

“What about Jormungander? How did you know he was yours?”

“Intuition…I suppose. I’m afraid he never had the gift for shapeshifting like his brother did. Both he and Sleipnir are limited to their birth forms, though both are sentient, self aware and entirely intelligent. Or…or at least Sleipnir still is.” It was clearly uncomfortable, but Loki had begun this story. He had to know where it would head. And there was a part of him that wanted Tony to know. “When I came home, the first person I went to was my mother. She was sympathetic, but not blind. She uh, reminded me that I had been foolish. That if I had come to her we might have been able to avoid the situation together. But as it was, the All-Father would have to be told what I had done. Though she promised me she would do all she could to lessen my crimes.”

“Frigga did not anticipate the absolute disgust Odin would bare for my off-spring.” Loki put his hands together, trying to keep composure. “I went before the All-Father and he told me that the cost of my treason would be high indeed. That…that I had to be made to grasp the severity of what I had done.” Tony watched Loki clench his fists till the knuckles turned white. “He made me choose between them.”

“Oh…shit.” Tony suddenly regretted asking for this story.

“Fenrir was much easier for the Aesir to accept. He could look like one of them, he did not need to hunt mice or slither about. Jourmungander terrified people. And Odin said that if I did not choose then then I would be released of both of them.” His voice was choking. “I begged to allowed to place him myself. To find some realm where perhaps he could be happy. And when that failed I begged to be allowed to say good-bye. They tore him from my arms and sent him adrift on the river of stars. I screamed and wept and Thor had to hold me back to keep me from throwing myself off the bridge.”

Tony took his hand and held it, keeping him from chewing at the knuckle. He rubbed his thumbs comfortably over the palm, trying to keep him calm.

“Odin came to me later of course, out of the site of the court. He told me to remember that his decision, while it may have seemed cruel, the council had wished for all my offspring to be banished. He bade me remember that he had convinced them one was enough to teach me a lesson.”

“I thanked him then, Anthony. I thanked him for his wisdom and mercy.” Bile and venom traced every word and Tony could see the black hatred rising in him. The mortal took his hands and scratched them in long, soothing motions down Loki’s scalp. The hard lines of his face softened and Loki heaved a great sigh.

There were several minutes of silence before Tony asked. “So…did he survive?”

“He did.” Loki said with steady inflection. “He landed on Midgard and lives in the deepest dark of your Mariana Trench.” The god leaned into the comfort of Tony’s chest. “I visit him sometimes, but he does not know me as his sire. Centuries of dark isolation, he does not even speak anymore. I feed him, goats, pigs, cows. He permits me but will not allow for me to touch him.” Loki submitted to the soothing touch of his lover. “Perhaps it is for the best. He is safe there. Undisturbed and at peace. Where else in the Nine Realms could he be welcomed?”

He was headed for a dark mood. “What ever happened to Idunn?” he asked, pulling back to the original storyline.

“Oh Odin negotiated her release after she’d picked a few hundred apples for Angraboda.” Loki shrugged. “She was furious with me at first. I had to have Thor go and get my apples for three hundred years otherwise she would lob them at my head and try to beat me with a tree branch.” He scoffed. “She needn’t have been so contrite. By all accounts Angraboda did her no harm and treated her fairly.”

“Didn’t you have another kid with Angraboda?”

“Yes. My sweet little Hela.” Loki smiled fondly. “Not till much later, during the war of the Rainbow Bridge. We needed aid routing the jotuns away from Asgard. She offered the aid of _Urolighederne_ and when it was accepted… we found one another and had a battle marriage. Hela was the result of this.” Loki sat up a bit.

“You’d think you would have learned your lesson.” Tony said smoothly.

“Did you ever learn?” Loki gave him a raised brow. “How many unaccounted children of your liaisons are wandering about Midgard?”

“None! I wrap it up! Every time.” Tony said defensively.

“Not any more.” Loki corrected with a grin.

“Pepper has access to the best birth control in the world. And you…wait.” Tony gave the god a hard look. “You… can’t get pregnant by me…can you?”

Loki chuffed. “It is highly unlikely. Svaoilfari had powerful magic in him, and to be fair I was entirely a mare at the time. Besides, no offense but you’re mortal. I doubt your seed has the potency required to make me breed.”

“So…that isn’t a no…” Tony sounded worried.

“Well…not exactly a no. Jotun physiology is vastly different from humans. I am, by your understanding, intergendered. But in over a thousand years of intercourse with a variety of partners in a multitude of gender polarities, Svaoilfari is the only one who ever had me ‘knocked up’. It’s not going to happen Anthony.”

Tony pursed his lips. “I’m getting a vasectomy.”

“Anthony! Anthony wait!” Loki called after him. “Tony!”


End file.
